MCCURDY, Edward Archdale (d.1842). Three Panoramic Views of Ottacamund, the Chief Station on the Neilgherries, or Blue Mountains of Coimbetore. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., [c.1842].

MCCURDY, Edward Archdale (d.1842). Three Panoramic Views of Ottacamund, the Chief Station on the Neilgherries, or Blue Mountains of Coimbetore. London: Smith, Elder, & Co., [c.1842].

A very rare suite of views of the Blue Mountains (Nilgiris) surrounding Ooty. The title-page features a large vignette of a Toda family, an ancient and exceptionally distinctive Dravidian ethnic group. The Nilgiris form part of the Western Ghats, a mountain range older than the Himalayas and designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 2012. De Silva describes this work as one of three which present "the most vivid early visual representations of the Nilgiris." Only two copies appear in the auction records of RBH, both uncolored. Not in Abbey or Tooley. See De Silva, Colonial Self-Fashioning in British India (2018).

Oblong folio (605 x 430mm). Lithographed, hand-colored title-page and 3 hand-colored plates lithographed by W. Walton after McCurdy and printed by C. Hullmandel. Modern half morocco, spine gilt.

Pre-Lot Text
PROPERTY FROM AN EAST COAST COLLECTION